


5 times Five (+1)

by Insomniacfuelledbycaffeine



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 04:18:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17974367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insomniacfuelledbycaffeine/pseuds/Insomniacfuelledbycaffeine
Summary: (What is wrong with additional tags I do not know)5 times Five proves that he's back for real to his family, and that he's not leaving anytime soon.(And that one time he is the one who has to make sure he is really back)





	5 times Five (+1)

**Author's Note:**

> So uh this took longer than I wanted to
> 
> \- there are spoilers  
> \- allusions to the comics  
> \- Yes I headcanon the Handler as a paedophile what are you gonna do I hate her with all my heart (gotta write something about that)  
> \- these are not linear
> 
> This is all for my own feelings ok

7-

 

 

« I must thank you again for this invitation, Vanya. It’s much appreciated . »

  
« You’re welcome but… you can stop talking like an old man you know—oh never mind. Sorry. »

  
« Dont worry about it. »

  
The waiting line for the concert was unsurprisingly long in this evening, stretching out all around the church in a patient ribbon, spilling on the streets. People passed by, staring sometimes, at all these (mostly elderly) people all dressed up and standing there, under the warm artificial nights. Vanya was fidgeting next to her brother, straightening her tuxedo occasionally, glancing at the star-shaped light bulbs floating in the air, warming the atmosphere for some but making her feeling even more nervous and small in the oh so big crowd.

  
Five was looking around himself, eyes thoughtful, sometimes stopping to glance at one particular couple or a bunch of kids his age running past the streets.

« I won’t lie to you, » He starts tentatively, « it has been very long since I have been part of a crowd. It’s… a strange feeling. ». His sister looks at him in his schoolboy shorts, holding a notepad and pen ; she smiles.

  
« Well, it has been a while we went to an event like this together, huh ? » She asks, warmly patting his shoulder before taking her hand of quickly. He doesn’t comment the gesture, but the way he stiffened says enough. Vanya lets her hand fall to her side silently, takes a deep breath. « I like it. »

  
« It is pleasant alright. » He simply answers, face sorrowful for a split second. Vanya swears she can see a reflection of red in his dark pupils but he raises his head, letting the street lamps illuminate his face and frowns at the poster on the wall of the church. « Remind me what kind of concert this is ? »

  
« A concerto. » She immediately corrects and Five hums. Seeming intrigued, he looks at her as if awaiting more information which makes her smile. « It’s a concerto for flute solist. Stamitz, I believe, G minor ? » She ponders, squinting her eyes to remember. Her brother looks at her then back at the poster.

  
« The flutist has a weird name. » He admonishes, raising his eyebrows in curious contemplation. « He must be… French ? Probably French. » Vanya raises her head too, staring at the poster, as a thought crosses her mind.

  
She was with her brother. And they were going to a concerto. And they weren’t fighting, and he was asking her questions, and he seemed actually interested in what was going on—

  
They were having a good time like actual normal siblings. And it made her so happy, flooding her head with sudden warmth that she can’t help but grin, forgetting all that apocalypse bullshit for a while because the only sibling who ever seemed to acknowledge her presence was finally back and-

  
« You are right, young man, he’s most certainly French. » Vanya jumps on her feet, startled, and doesn’t miss the sudden furious light in her brother’s eyes and the sharp turn he makes on his feet towards the person who had spoken.

  
« Don't call me young man. » He snaps out of habit, glaring at the woman. Said woman’s eyes grow big, and she smiles. Vanya feels the fragile moment of casual happiness fly away like one of the light bulbs over her head and she freezes again.

  
She needs her pills.

  
« My bad, my bad, don’t be mad ! » She laughs, pats his shoulder (did she have a death wish ? Pushing his berserk button then touch him ?) he pulls his shoulder away in disdain, still glaring. Vanya softly takes a step towards him, careful not to touch him in fear of his reaction (He looked ready to kill) and looks at the woman who smiles still in a calm way. « I’m sorry I annoyed your son, miss. »

  
« He’s not my son. » She answers, right before Five can shoot an inappropriate remark. « My brother. He’s older than he looks. » The woman curiously looks at the boy, blinking her long lashes gently.

  
« I’m sorry, old man. » She then jokes, grinning ? Proud ? Vanya is terrified, extending her arm in front of Five in desperate attempt to avoid having to explain why he had murdered a random woman on the street.

  
Couldn’t she have one moment of peace with him without having anybody stupidly playing with his nerves ?

  
« Very funny. » He answers, glaring daggers at the woman with all the might in his little body. Vanya swallows thickly as he turns his back at them, clicking his pen open furiously, and glances a terrifying look at the woman one last time. « I have a few equations to solve, Vanya, do you mind if I don’t speak at all for a while ? »

  
The sister feels like she has eaten a big chunk of ice weighing her stomach down. « No, not at all. » She sighs, letting her eyes fall at the floor.

  
Horrible.

  
« What a strange brother you have ! » the woman keeps going, waving a perfectly manicured hand in front of her face. « Did he have a rough childhood ? »  
Vanya glances timidly at Five, who had gone back to scribbling nonsense. She remembers the defeated face, tired sighs, long coffee sips—

« Yeah. He’s having a rough time. » The woman nods in an understanding way, warmly putting a hand on Vanya’s shoulder.

  
« So must you, then. I hope this representation will ease your nerves. » She smiles at her, Vanya smiles back hesitantly. « If you want, we can get a drink after ? » She adds gently, rubbing her fingers on the petite woman warmly.

  
Vanya feels like someone dropped a bucket of water over her head. Suddenly trembling ; the woman was too close and what-« No thank you. »

  
Her grip tightens yet. « My treat ? »

  
She wants the fingers to go away and feels so repulsed by them for a second, disgusted by the smile and the fingers and all the-« No. Thank you. »

  
They were nearly at the entrance but the woman wasn’t moving at all, eyes staring at Vanya, set with ugly determination. Vanya wants to move, scream, call Five or do something but he was deep in his equations and she was alone again against the woman and she couldn’t do anything-

  
The sound of the crowd gets louder around her, drowns her head, fills her from tip to toe and everything she can think of is that hand on her shoulder and how she can’t move and-

  
« Miss, can you please take your hand off my sister ? » The familiar voice cuts all her thought off, and she feels another smaller hand on her arm and the hand pulls her away from the woman. « She doesn’t want anything to do with you. »

  
Unimpressed, the woman raises her eyebrow at the small figure now in front of Vanya. « And what will you do about it ? »

  
The small brunette feels the hand on her arm tighten its grip but not in a bad way ; it’s small but warm and keeping her upright.

  
Five just stares at the woman and smiles innocently.

« I don’t know, what can a kid do ? »

  
There is no more sound. Vanya looks at her small brother who suddenly looked very tall and very scary and then she looks at the tall woman who now shrunk and shrunk under Five's radiant smile. « Five ? » She asks quietly and he turns around with a now different smile.

  
« It’s our turn, let’s get in. » He just says, tugging her sleeve and getting her inside the church. She dares not speak, so he shows their passes, choses a seat, and helps her sit down without a word. He sinks in the seat next to her, takes his pen out, opens his notepad.

  
It’s silent. It takes her a bit more time to adjust, blankly looks around herself and then at Five, who wore a calm but deadly expression. « Thanks ? » She half-asks, raising her hand to put it on his arm then choses otherwise.

  
He didn’t like people touching him.

  
So when he puts his hand on her arm again and gives it a firm squeeze, she can’t help but look at him in an astounded way. « Just saved you from sexual assault. Don’t mention it and I won’t. »

  
Vanya nods, letting her back bump the seat behind her and breathes slowly. He squeezes her arm again and although all her limbs are shaking painfully, she feels the warmth of the contact still, right here next to her, taking care.

  
« Okay. » She says. « Okay. »

 

 

 

(6)4-

 

 

« The way we pulled off that thing with the ice cream van ? Iconic. Fuckign amazing. I'd totally do that again. »

  
« We nearly died. »

  
« Oh shut up you're already dead. »

  
Five curiously stares at Klaus who was apparently arguing with a cushion on the sofa. He frowns, then shrugs it off before grabbing another coffee and another chalk in the disposal and as he gestures to get back upstairs, his brother realizes his presence.  
« Hey bro ! » Klaus exclaims, then coughs, brushes off Ben's tired sigh, and starts again. « Hey, bro. »

  
Five scoffs. « Why so serious all of a sudden ? »  
His brother slash junkie lets out a guttural sound and plummets on the sofa—Ben jumps off—« I need your help for something. »

  
« Something more important than equations that could save this entire world ? » He deadpans, to which Ben whistles. Klaus simply raises his eyebrows, looks at his brother, and forces his down lip out in deep thinking.

  
« You’re hungry. Is that more important than the apocalypse ? » Ben asks him.

  
« Yeah, yeah it definitely is. Also, shut up. » Klaus throws a cushion at his dead brother, taking his alive brother aback, then stares at the latter. « I’m hungry. Let’s get cookies. And we can buy you caffeine or something. »

  
Five seems to weigh down his options for a split second, just enough time for Luther to step down the stairs. « Oh, Five, I was just looking for you ! »

  
« Too bad, I’m busy. » He answers hastily, making a quick gesture with his chin to Klaus. «Living Ouija board and I are going to eat. » Klaus grins and jumps out with a victorious cry, skipping ahead of his brother as Luther gives kicked puppy eyes to the small boy who simply makes a falsely sorry whine. « See ya around. I’m sure what you needed me for is very important. »

  
« Woah, you really don’t like Luther, huh ? » Klaus laughs after they get out of the house, followed closely by a grinning Ben. Five shrugs, hands in his pockets, jingling a few coins.

  
« Let’s say he probably could be capable of snapping my neck with one of his hands if he were angry enough and that doesn’t please me. » He admits. « Not that he could catch me, but that and the fact that he believes in dad doesn’t make him likeable to me. Beside, he probably had a question about the moon which doesn’t interest me the slightest, so I'd rather come drink good coffee with you. »

  
« Aw … I’m your favourite brother… » Klaus smiles lopsidedly, opening his arms. « Come hug me my adorable son ! »

  
« Fuck you. I loved Ben more than you. »

  
« Say what ? » Ben starts roaring with laughter behind him and Klaus uneffectively throws a rock on the ground at him. « Ben says he didn’t like you at all ! You’re a stupid stinky small twink ! »

  
« I never said that ! » the dead man protests, Klaus raises his finger and pushes it to his mouth. The Horror gasps, crosses his arms and sticks his tongue out.

  
« Anyways, where should we go ? » Five asks without any emotion, eyes darting from a place to another. « I haven’t been around here for a long while. » Klaus’ eyes glint.

  
« You are asking ME a QUESTION ? »

  
« Don’t get too excited. I suppose all your years in this city made you at least learn a few decent places to eat ? » The tall man stops, pushes his knuckles at his cheek and takes a moment to ponder his options.  
In the middle of the road.

  
« How much money do you have ? » He asks, ignoring Ben telling him to get off because there were cars zooming around and sends a judging look toward Five. « Really, how much money do you have right now ? If you have a lot, we could maybe – ! »

  
Of course he doesn’t see the fast car approaching and doesn’t hear the driver yelling and the klaxon screaming, sounds drowned by alcohol, but he does hear both his brothers shout almost simultaneously as he finally turns around with a very annoyed look on his face and words dying on his lips as—

  
Flash of blue, screeching tires, he falls to the floor and badly hits his head on the hard concrete, he hears people talking and buzzing and suddenly he's back on the battlefield with the dust burning his chest and throat and he can’t breathe he can’t breathe he can’tbreathehecantbreate

  
« Fuck, Klaus ! » Ben yells, pushing his shoulder violently. Klaus swears he can feel the hand hurting his shoulder but all he can’t think of right now is Dave because there was a bad impact and he was probably right here but it was too close—« Klaus ! FIVE ! »

  
_Five ?_

  
Ben's voice brings him back on the cold concrete and he can finally see the people around him whispering and poking him. He blinks, swats them away the best he can and pushes himself upwards. Right, he’s not in Vietnam, this is not the war, he’s where he should be and he was going for some cookies with his brother(s)…

  
Ben was here. Looking at him, kinda distraught, the kind of look he wore after a harsh mission letting him a bit dizzy and lost but this time there was no blood because Ben was dead. Ben was dead but who was the second brother he came here with ?

  
He can’t remember. Damn headache.

  
« Get out of my way, out of my way ! Shit shit shit Klaus ? Where’s the guy I pushed ? Yes I am ok and I am not a kid go AWAY ! » the people around him start leaving like stupid sheeps pushed away by a big bad wolf—or like a flock of pigeons in which would run a kid just to see them fly away—he was high wasn’t he ?

  
« Oh, Five, hi ? I thought I was in Vietnam you know, like all sounds and people and all. Also, you pushed me hard, you prick ! » He protests painfully, rubbing his head. « Ow ! » But Five doesn’t seem to care, quickly moving his clothes around and peeking around his vest and pressing his palm around some of his body parts. Klaus lets him, kind of curious, as Ben curses loudly behind them. He spins around (his neck cracks), « Language ! »

  
« Klaus you absolute fuckign dumbass I swear if I was alive I would punch the shit out of you what the fuck ! » Ben yells, clearly scared, waving his hands around in panic. Klaus blinks.

  
« What’s the problem ? »

  
Ben sighs. Loudly. And falls on the pavement to bury his face in his hands with a groan. He turns his head back at Five who's nervously running his hand through his hair—in fact, he was moving his hands in a strange way. They were on his head then touching Klaus’ vest and then his face and then they were covering his eyes and he breathes deeply. « I thought my heart was going to explode. What were you thinking ? »

  
Klaus grins. « That’s the thing, brother dear, I don’t think. »

  
Five looks at him with enormous astounded eyes, then Klaus realizes that his fingers are twitching awkwardly as he collapses on the pavement right next to Ben. He wipes his forehead, clenches his hand on his shirt so hard wrinkles crunch it. « I thought I had fucked up so bad you were going to die right here right now. » He sighs. His brother looks at him with a big big grin as Ben passes a pale arm around Five's shoulder (He doesn’t feel it).

  
« You didn’t fuck up anything, brother dear. » He gets up, stretches out, and yawns. « I’m hungry. »

  
The boy looks at him with tired eyes, gets up too. « Aren’t you going to thank me for saving your ass once again ? » he asks mockingly, haughty again. He straightens his jacket, Ben gets up behind him and sends a glare to Klaus.

  
« Go on, say thank you ! » the dead man urges, hissing. Klaus widens his eyes, seems to struggle to open his mouth and makes a weird grimace before sighing.

  
« All right, all right. Thanks… » Five flashes the smallest, tiniest smile, « …for the twenty cookies you’re gonna buy me to forget this traumatic event ! »

  
Ben facepalms, and next to him the smallest yet oldest Hargreeves smirks. « Why would you eat twenty cookies ? »

  
« Fuck you, that’s why ! »

 

 

  
3-

 

 

« Allison ? Allison I’m sorry can I have your help in something I would like to discuss—oh I’m sorry, never mind. »

  
« Mom, who’s that boy behind you ? »

  
Allison turns around to look at Five who had just entered the room, then back at her computer where the curious face of little Claire is looking at her brother behind her. Five makes a strangled noise, already backing off and out of the room, but Allison waves her hand at him. « That’s your uncle Number Five ! Come in, she won’t hurt you ! »

  
Five throws her a panicked look, stepping a bit more away in an awkward fear. « No I’ll just—don’t mind me I'm interrupting I’ll »

  
« Mom, isn’t Uncle Five dead ? Why does he look like a kid ? » Claire asks, eyes still staring at the boy behind her mother. Five swallows nervously, and Allison gets up near him. He steps back away.

  
« Come on, don’t be a prick and say hi to your niece ! » She says warmly, grabbing his arm. « Please ? »

  
Claire keeps on looking at her strange uncle as he awkwardly steps more inside and sits on the bed next to his sister. He shakes his head, passes a hand through his hair and looks at the small girl watching him in the computer. A sudden bittersweet smile crosses his face and he swallows thickly, eyelids heavily blinking.

  
« Hi. » he whispers. Claire grins.

  
« Hi Uncle Five ! » Allison is giggling now, proudly watching the moment she knows Five's heart breaks dead in his chest. « Why do you look so young ? »

  
Rumour is glad her brother is smiling so warmly for the first time in a while. « It’s… very complicated, sweetie. I can’t explain. » He answers softly, tripping on his words.

  
« But I wanna know ! » the little girl protests. « Why did mom say you were dead ? Why are you back ? I wanna know ! »

  
« You told her I was dead ? » Allison freezes, doesn’t expect the thickness in her brother's voice, the amount of emotions suddenly falling in his eyes. Her ears are ringing, she doesn’t want him to—

  
« Five, we thought you were dead, I didn’t want her to be waiting for or asking about an uncle who didn’t exist »

  
« I stopped existing when I left ? » He asks quietly, taking a deep breath right afterwards. Allison tries to explain but he closes his eyes and suddenly his shoulders look so tired and so heavy and he’s so old—« Please, don’t. Don’t explain. »

  
« Uncle Five ? Mom ? » Claire’s voice cuts the silence. The sister feels horrible but her beautiful daughter looks confused and she can’t rumour her way out of this one—she has to face reality this time and—

  
« Claire, did you know your mother once dyed her hair purple ? » Five suddenly says, looking back at the screen. She watches the little girl's mouth shape an o then she shakes her head negatively and her brother goes on, « Our Father didn’t like it. So he cut her hair short and she was like that with short purple hair for a long while. »

  
« We said we wouldn’t talk about that anymore ? » Allison exclaims, slightly distraught by his change of tone. Five looks back at her, silently staring.

  
« If you tell her I stopped existing the day I left, then I’ll tell her all your dirty secrets. » He says in the most threatening voice. Acting like a petty kid. Allison lets out a dry laugh, amused but still feeling—

  
« Also, she once killed my pet dog. » He says calmly, to which Claire gasps. The woman tries to grab Five and make him stop talking but he puts a hand in front of her mouth which she just manages to push out for a split second to defend herself.

  
« It was an accident ! »

  
« You still killed Mr Pettycrumbs. Ah, I'll always remember him… » He sighs dramatically. « Even after forty years, I can’t forget that day when she murdered my lovely puppy… »

  
« Mom ! » Claire exclaims in shock. Allison pushes him away and he loses his grip before plummeting ungracefully on bed as she grips the computer.

  
« Sweetie he’s making it sound horrible when it truly wasn’t »

  
« My poor little puppy ! » Five whines from under her armlock. « I'll never find a dog as loyal as you ! »

  
« Not my fault if you insisted on bringing him to missions ! »

  
« Not my fault that you left him unsupervised ! »

  
They stop bickering when Claire explodes in laughter, holding her stomach and throwing her head backwards. The two siblings look at the little girl with matching warm smiles until she stops laughing and wipes her tears away. « You're funny ! Mom, when can I see Uncle Five ? "

  
Their smile fall off when she asks the question, and they look at each other silently. Allison licks her lips, sadly smiles at her daughter and puts her hand on the screen when the small girl imitates her. « I don’t know, sweetie. I don’t know. » She sighs, heart heavy.

  
She knows Patrick will come soon and take the computer away from her and she won’t see her daughter again. But now, she wants to see her smile again because she looked worried and her eyes were shining and please don't cry—

  
« Very soon, Claire. » Allison is startled, turning around to meet her brother smiling (Five had smiled more in these five minutes than she had ever seen him smile before). « I promise you’ll be able to hug your mom very soon. I’ll take care of her while you’re not around, okay ? »

  
The little girl nods, looking at him. « You promise she’ll come back ? »

  
« Promise. » He nods, hands on his lap. « Can you promise me something, Claire ? »

  
Allison watches, dumbfounded, as her daughter nods again, and leans in towards the computer. « What can I promise, Uncle Five ? »

  
« When I’ll come see you, I want you to come up with a name for me, does that sound good ? » Allison stays silent, opens and closes her mouth. « Please ? »

  
Claire's eyes shine excitedly and she claps her hand. « Promise ! I will find you the bestest name, Uncle Five !! »

  
« I’m sure you will. » After his words, a male voice shouts from far away, and Claire looks at her mother and uncle before sheepishly waving goodbye. The siblings wave at her too, and her finger seems to hesitate to hang up.

  
Allison hangs up before she does.

  
They sit on her bed silently for a few seconds, Allison staring at a point on the floor before her feelings suddenly grip her head and it hurts ; her body jerks as she curls on herself and holds her sides with a long whine. She can’t move, eyes tightly closed, heart throbbing in her chest painfully , she’s struggling to breathe—all of this would be over if she could just use her powers, a little rumour…

  
« I promised, you know ? » Five’s words make her flinch. « I promised I would protect you and I promised you'd see her again. »

  
Allison raises her heavy head slowly, looking at the blurry form of her brother. « What do you mean ? »

  
« I won’t break my promise. » He leans down to come at her level. « You’re going to see her again, okay ? » She hiccups, nods quickly, and he looks at her for a few more seconds before pushing a strand of curly hair out of her face.

  
« Thanks. » She sobs, it hurts, « Thank you so much for coming back, thank you » Allison covers her mouth and groans in her palms. She feels the mattress shifts next to her and Five is up on his feet again.

  
« I exist, Number Three. And I won’t ever break any promise again. » He opens the door—she hears it creak—« Do you want anything do drink ? »

  
« Tea would be nice. » She whispers, trapped in the amount of emotions that were carefully hidden in his voice, trapped in what this reality was doing to her—

  
« I’ll be right back. »

  
The door closes behind him. Allison holds her hands together, breathing deeply.

  
He promised. She would see her little Claire again.

 

 

  
2-

 

 

« Stop teleporting everywhere ! »

  
« It helps me think. »

  
Diego digs his fingers in his hair as the sound of space continuum bending echoes around him as his brother jumps from the sofa to the bar, then top of the chandelier and in front of the door, and a pause once in a while. His thoughts are drumming in his skull in a dull monotony, and when Five starts to teleport in a quicker pace around the room he groans and throws a knife in his direction.

  
The knife sticks itself in the thick wood with a sharp whistle just as the boy teleports a few meters away from it. Number Two doesn’t miss the terrifyingly dark glare his brother gives him a split second later, mouth pinched and—did he just trip ?—« Be careful with those things. You could end up killing one of us. »

  
He didn’t expect the statement, but it sounds more like an insult than anything else right now. His skin crawls, blood rushing so fast he could feel the pauses caused by his heartbeats, and the awkward freeze following them.

  
He was furious. « You’re one to talk. »

  
The room's temperature drops drastically, so drastically—Diego knew how to get under people's skins. He knew where the buttons were, he knew how to press them gently or hit them full force ; right now he knew Five was extremely anxious by the way he hadn't stopped teleporting around (Dad used to force him to do that until he couldn’t breathe and collapsed to the floor—he once even vomited on the carpet as a result) and—

  
« What do you mean by that ? » His eye twitches, words as sharp as Diego's knives. Feeling bold, Number Two rolls his eyes and looks at him with a disdainful expression.

  
« You’re the one who says you’ll kill anybody who has to be killed in order to prevent the apocalypse. Why you haven’t killed Vanya yet, I don’t know. »

  
(It hurts Diego as much as Five to remember their sister locked up in the basement.)

  
There’s a moment of silence, Diego awaiting his brother's outburst patiently. He hadn't been able to annoy Luther for a while, and Five was even more irritable than him. So when he doesn’t answer ; « You said you came back for us but you just brought more trouble along the way, dumbass. »

  
(Last blow. Diego felt kind of sick for saying all of this, but he wanted to see how many emotions he was still capable of showing after the years he said he had passed all alone with a mannequin.)

  
So when Five groans and teleports with a loud crack instead of the usual discrete pop, Diego raises his head curiously, ready to apologize but his brother is on the table now, holding the knife that had barely missed him a few seconds ago, and throws said knife on his portrait.

  
No word. Just the sound of tearing that reverberates itself around the room.

  
« Do you remember my calculations ? » He suddenly asks, turning around, staring at Diego but not with his usual determinate or proud voice. He sounded so tired ; « Luther was one of the targets. Didn’t tell him. Wasn’t planning on doing anything about it either. »

  
Diego blinks. « I’m sorry ? You were planning on killing Luther ? » Five groans again, holding his head in his hands and shaking it negatively.

  
« That’s not—thats not what I said ! »

  
« But the thought of k-killing one of us crossed your mind ! » Diego yells, cursing his stuttering. He gets up, walks to the table on which Five is still standing and grabs his collar.

  
(Why did he look so small and just like the kid that used to laugh so loud anytime Luther and Diego bickered ?)

  
He raises him up without any issue, small body dangling from his hand without any resistance. « T-t-tell me ! You thought about killing one of us didn't you ? »

  
It’s silent. Five finally looks him dead in the eyes, serious, blue orbs icy and dead. « I buried all of you, you know ? » he starts slowly, and Diego wants to snap at him again because—

  
« What if you were the one who killed us with your poor planning ? » He replies violently, slamming him against a wall. He doesn’t care anymore.

  
(Patch died because of _him_.)

  
Five sighs, clearly unphazed. « You’re not even capable of linking two dots together, are you ? So blinded because your precious detective died. Guess what, asshole, I already told you when you weren’t listening, I found all of your dead bodies. I saw you, » He digs his finger in Diego’s chest « and you were dead. Gone. Lifeless. » His voice cracks. « I fought for a lifetime because I wanted you back. I wanted all of you back. »

  
The way his brother's voice just dies out at the last word feels like a punch in the stomach. Diego can’t breathe for a split second before Five teleports out of his grip and collapses on the floor and holds his side with a grimace.

  
(Five wouldn’t lie like that. Yes, he was a bastard, an egotistical prick and a lying liar but he wouldn’t joke about this kind of things.)

  
Diego feels sick. « Look—I’m s-s-so-sor-so »  
He can't speak. Grace isn’t here, he feels so small and all the hatred and anger is gone replaced with pain—he wants to get Vanya out, he wants to apologize, he wants his siblings to be fine even for a short short while—

  
« Yeah, I get it. I also want things to go better. That’s what I've been fighting for for a long long time. » Five softly says, getting up. He sinks in the sofa, stares at the now torn painting on the wall. « I wonder if things would have gone better if I hadn’t left. »

  
Diego looks at him, silent, not able to say a single word as they all jumble in his head, nervously stressful. He takes a deep breath, ‘picture the word in your head’ , and closes his mouth, defeated.

  
« We'll get Vanya out of there, right ? » He finally manages to ask, trying to hold on to something imaginary, like his long lost brother back in their house and actually showing feelings.

  
« Yeah. Try to speak with Luther about it, you’ve got a knack for getting yourself understood. » He teleports silently across the room next to Diego. « I’m not letting any of you down anymore. »

  
Five pats his brother's back and looks at him with a strange forced yet genuine smile. Forced, because there wasn’t much to be smiling about right now ; but genuine because in the end they were both longing for the same imaginary goal.

  
« I wonder if we can still fix our family. » Diego muses, looking at his feet. He sighs with a smile on his face and looks at his small brother. « In a way, it’s a good thing to have you back. »

  
Five cocks an eyebrow. « Is it now ? Never thought I'd hear you of all people say it. »

  
« Well, after Dad's funeral we were all gonna fall back into our old habits and drift away, but you came by and we stuck together a bit more. » His voice is strangely calm, the words aren’t hard to say. He wonders why.

  
« As I expected, you didn’t miss me, you just… » Five looks at the ceiling, rubbing his cheek with his thumb. « …wanted me back because you hoped I could do something to help this family get back together. »

  
Diego incredulously looks at him, blinking. « No, we did miss you, Five. Really. » He says honestly, expecting at least a certain amount of intelligence from his brother who always seemed to be able to say what people expected him to say. From anger to hatred, Diego felt awkwardly soft.

  
He didn’t miss his childhood years, would never want to go back, but thinking how Five came back just for the sake of saving them made him think more about their family than he never thought he would. Would he do anything for them ? Would he be reduced to a dead man walking (like Five) just for them ?

  
Were they a source of… love strong enough to keep him going ?

  
« That’s… nice. » Five answers suddenly, silently, strangely timid. « I missed you too. »

  
Diego passes a strong arm around his brother's shoulders, squeezing him against his chest shortly. Feeling him tense up hurts him, but Five's problem with touching people could get fixed too. He doesn’t move from his side though, gingerly leaning slightly against his shoulder.

  
He came back. Why wouldn’t he have the right to be fixed like he was trying to fix them ?

  
« Oh, you two are getting along better, how wonderful ! » Diego is startled by their mother's arrival, and he feels Five straightening and getting away from him quickly. The blond robot smiles, hands linked, and stays perfect like this for a few seconds.

  
« Yeah, we are. » Diego tells her, stepping towards her. He feels Five's stare on his back, but it’s not deadly, it’s just…

  
Grace looks at Diego, then at Five, and her smile falls as the latter teleports out of the room.

  
« You seem upset. I’ll make cookies ! »

 

 

 

1-

 

 

  
« Uh, Five ? »

  
« What. »

  
« How do you cope ? With the loneliness I mean. »  
Luther feels abnormally small, standing a few feet away from his brother who was scribbling stuff on his bedroom’ s walls.

The boy stops, taps his chalk a few times like a cigarette on the wall and turns around. « You might want to repeat that. »

  
« How do you do it ? » he asks, lost, so lost, but Five gives no answer and raises his eyebrows to his hairline, unimpressed.

  
« I don’t get the question. » He replies, turns around again, looks at his equations. There is a moment of silence ; he crosses something out.

  
As his brother continues to scribble things out, Luther opens and closes his mouth a few times. He wonders, he really truly wonders, how Five is capable of…

  
Capable of being…

  
…That.

  
« The loneliness, it makes you go insane, doesn’t it ? » the chalk breaks on the wall, falling to the floor in dusty white shards. Number One is slightly scared, but Five simply jumps down from his bed and taps his hands together to get the chalk off them.

  
« You could say so. » He answers, raising his icy eyes to meet his brother's gaze. The tension is palpable, and Luther’s throat is blocked. « You’re asking me about how I managed all alone without going crazy ? »

  
« Not really my point but yeah basically that's it. » the tall man stutters like a child, « Though you did go crazy. »

  
Five's eyes narrow dangerously. « I did what ? »

  
« Well, you fell in love with a mannequin, there’s that. »

  
« How is that relevant to the point ? »

  
« How is that—Five ! » Luther sighs, making a useless gesture with his hand. « You talk to a mannequin as if it were an actual person ! »

  
« Delores is smarter than you. »

  
« No she isn’t-- ! »

  
There’s a pause as Number One just stares, bewildered, at his now older brother who didn’t seem to get his point (or didn’t want to get it). He felt words rushing to his mouth, but they died on his lips ; what was left of his sense of self-preservation was telling him to shut up if he didn’t have a death wish.

  
Luther feels so tired, as if all the pressure was falling back again on his shoulders, pressing him to the ground and forcing him to sink down, down, down—

  
« I’m doing very fine all alone, I don’t need any ‘presence’ to make me feel happy or something. » Five scoffs. « Seriously, what’s wrong with all of you touch-starved people ? »

  
« You sound like dad. »

  
He sees the entire body of his brother jerk around, eyes wide in eerie hilarity. « I what now ? »

  
« You sound like dad. He used to tell me I didn’t need anyone as long as I could save everyone. » Luther lowers his eyes, shrugs. « You are just like him. »

  
He swears he can hear the explosion of rage in Five's head as his lips twitch, eyes still wide and looking crazier than usual. His neck snaps as he looks at the mannequin in the corner of the room as if she had said something, then back at Luther. Then he makes a strangled, choking sound, blinking a few times. « Me ? Just like dad ?! » His voice cracks, delirious, and Luther is scared he broke something deep inside him.

  
So he doesn’t answer, in fear. He thought he could bring him down, try to make Number Five talk to him as an equal, make him understand how crooked his morals were. By telling him how absolutely terrifying his behaviour had been, he thought he could make it all right again.

  
Obviously, that didn’t work. Now he's facing a time travelling assassin who had clearly just gone mental because of him which meant, quite simply, that he had fucked up big time.

  
« Look, Number One. » Lost in his thought, Luther is startled when his brother suddenly teleports in front of his face with a very, very loud crack. « I am nothing like dad. I have gone through things you wouldn’t even see in your most terrible nightmares, and have had to kill my way out of everything. » His lips crook themselves in an ugly sneer, cynical smirk. « I could leave all of you to die here, but I’m not, so just be glad you have a joker out of this fucking mess, have I made myself clear ? »

  
Luther is terrified ; terrified of a thirteen year old child no more no less ; but at the same time he just feels close to him in a way. « But you’re not leaving us here. You’ve felt alone for so long, you don’t wanna be alone again. »

  
Five raises his head, looks down at him from the footstool he had teleported on, then teleports back away from him. « I get it, you know, the wish to make everything better on your own. »

  
« Shut up, Luther. » the boy snarls, furiously wiping out the thing he had previously crossed out of his wall. « You’re gonna make a terrible mistake because of your way of seeing things and you’re going to get all of us killed. »

  
« We see things in a similar way. » Luther points out.

  
Stupid move.

  
« No we do not. For you, there are only white and black. I’m living in a world of shades of grey. You’re not even capable of thinking your actions through, and I make endless equations for a mere move in the grand scheme of things. You’ve been alone for four years, I’ve been alone for fourty-five years. » Five blurts out facts, hand hovering over the clearly erased spot. He shakes his head, turns around and puts both hands in his pockets. « Grow up. »

  
Suddenly, Luther feels all alone again, small, in front of his father telling him to be a man, telling him he needed purpose. He sucks in a deep breath, extends his hands toward Five who violently slaps them away from himself. « Please… Just tell me how you do it… » He pleads, he’s a little kid again, everything hurts again, his body itches again. « Tell me how you’ve become so strong… »

  
His brother (even after all these years alone he is still his brother) blinks a few times at him. At the broken man he had become. Looking at a loss for words, he frowns, gives a helpless look at the mannequin, then back at Luther.

  
Pathetic.

  
« You just have to find something to fight on for. »

  
« But that’s the problem ! I have no purpose ! » He exclaims, gripping his skull in pain. « I have no purpose ! »

  
« How about your family ? »

  
Luther’s mind goes blank at the statement. He doesn’t know what to think, looks back at Five in silent shock, biting back the burning feeling in his eyes.

  
« But I’ve been gone for so long… » He utters, hopeless. Five rolls his eyes, sits down to get to his kneeling brother, and props his elbows on his knees.

  
« Me too. » He says drily. « But I’m back. And all of you are still emotionally stunted kids, so I don’t see where is the problem in all the years I missed. »

  
Of course he saw the problem. Liar. Number One knew, knew the problem in feeling that long amount of time, that empty gap there was between you and people you once knew.

  
It was so hard to catch up. And Luther had only been gone for four years.

  
So Five—

  
« You must be in agony. » He slowly points out, looking at his brother. Five blinks quickly, body shivering for a second.

  
« Thanks for noticing. »

  
And the three words are enough for Luther to feel his eyes leaking and he lunges forward to grab his brother into a bone crushing hug. He feels him yelp, try to push him away, get louder and louder by the second in frantic panic but he is strong and he just wants to show he’s here for him and—

  
Five teleports out of his grasp and barely lands straight on his feet. He stares back at Luther, big mess, and chokes. « What the fuck ? » He’s shivering, eye twitching, rubbing his hands on his body quickly. « Never do that again, you hear me ? Never ! »

  
« Five, that was a hug and I though you needed » He tries to explain, feeling disgusting and gross as the boy keeps on rubbing his hands on his vest in a frantic pace, eyes darting from him to the spot he had erased on the wall.

  
Five gasps for air, before managing to make decent eye contact with Luther again. « Never touch me again. » He hisses, turning around and teleporting out of the room.

  
Luther is left alone, silently weeping in his brother's bedroom, wiping his face with his palms. He had made another mistake.

  
He hoped Five wouldn’t run away again.

  
He didn’t want to be left alone again.

 

 

  
+1-

  
He wakes up all alone, drenched in sweat, fighting the bedsheets.

  
Five slips down the bed, lands on the floor with a light thud, heart going a million times a second, eyes wide. He takes a deep breath, tries to take a deep breath but his throat clenches shut after not enough oxygen and he has to repeat the process a few times to get enough air in his system.

  
He is in his bedroom. In the academy. Nothing had been blown up, everything was stable, and his siblings—

  
He springs to his feet, dashes out of his bedroom, trips and slips and falls but immediately gets up again as fear runs in his veins from the top of his head to the trembling tips of his fingers. His legs are unsteady, but he keeps on running, until he reaches one of the bedrooms and opens the door.

  
Empty.

  
His heart forgets how to beat for a second, then starts again as dust starts falling around him. Five whines, grabs the sides of his head, as the walls start collapsing and he’s alone-all alone-back there where he swore to never go back—

  
He sprints out of the bedroom as the walls crumble to pieces and the air gets hotter and hotter, pushing him down to the ground. The carpet is torn apart, the paintings fall to the ground, the tiles on which he steps are breaking down behind his steps—

  
He pushes another door open.

  
Empty.

  
This time, his lungs explode and cry out for air but he can’t stop—not yet—and he runs out and slams doors open one after the other.

  
Empty.

  
Empty.

  
Empty.

  
Five doesn’t want to give into panic but his body is feeling and everywhere is burning and dust is floating around him, laughing at him, he has to get out of here right now—

  
His hands won’t glow, his power won’t activate, he’s stuck in the enormous cell that was the empty world and he screams, screams, because not again !

  
« Master Five ? »

  
A flash of light blinds him for a second—it’s too white, too bright—like in the Comission where there was the Handler and the way she liked to—

  
« Master Five, are you alright ? » Pogo asks a second time, voice softer. The boy looks at him incredulously, as if he was seeing a ghost, then rubs his eyes.

  
« Yes. Yes, I’m quite fine. Just a—stupid nightmare. » He curtly says, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulder. « I’m going back to bed. »

  
The monkey gives him an unconvinced look. « Are you sure ? »

  
Relief was making him light headed, like on drugs, and Five felt all ecstatic for no reason. « Ah, yes yes, Pogo, Pogo, » He leans in a wall, feeling the strong matter supporting him, « my life is a big big hallucination, a big big nightmare, and all of you are like—I don’t even know if you’re real. No idea. Don’t wanna know. »

  
Five was usually logical, but he couldn’t care about his words less, because he was just tired and there was no goddamn coffee around, and anyways what would Pogo do with any of his weakness’ ? Tell dad ?

  
The concept was so hilarious to him at the moment that he laughs at it. Turning around to go back to sleep, he completely ignores the very confused Pogo.

  
« Master Five ? » He inquires a last time.

  
« Go back to sleep, Pogo. Who knows if you'll wake up tomorrow ! » He says, grinning like a maniac.

  
He had made it.

  
He was home, there was no apocalypse, and he wasn’t alone. If Pogo was here, then his siblings were definitely fine. The house was standing, the walls were strong, the floor was straight, and his bed was soft.

  
He could go back to sleep too.

 

 

 

  
Right before his brain slips in a comfortable coma-like state, Five muses.

 

  
What if he didn’t wake up tomorrow ?

 

**Author's Note:**

> \- Yes I headcanon that Five considered killing Luther and he was in his hit list for the apocalypse but he didn't  
> \- Allison and Five is a pair we saw a lot in the comics but never in the series can we have more please  
> \- guys you know that disgusting feeling when someone you don't want to touches you and your skin just goes noooooo well that's Five  
> \- if this is ooc I'm sorry but my lack of talent is... well a lack of talent ?
> 
> onefrenchcappuccinoplease on Tumblr I do shit
> 
> Kudos and comments are to me what coffee is to Five


End file.
